An Apprehensive Farewell
by rocksound
Summary: Jude fails many times at trying to escape from her abusive boyfriend Mike.  When she's finally free, she decided to let the world now what he did to her.  Through music.  Which is when she meets Tommy and things get messy..
1. Prologue

-An Apprehensive Farewell-

-Disclaimer-

I own nothing, except for the whole character concept of Mike, and the new story line that I've created. Other than that, I don't own a frigging thing.

-Prologue-

Jude looked up at Mike in fear. She knew what he was capable of. In all honesty, unbeknownst to anybody else, she'd experienced it, and at the moment, _this_ was her reality. She looked up at the man she had once fallen obliviously in love with. Not once did she ever imagine it would come to this. In fact, being in this situation had always been only in her wildest dreams. "Don't do this!" She screamed as he raised his fist. "Don't do something you'll regret!"

Mike let out an evil chuckle. "Don't do something I'll _regret_?" He yelled. "I already proposed to _you_, didn't I?" He yelled back to her. At this point, he was sitting on top of her stomach, pinning her down to the wood floor in their living room as she struggled to move. He raised his fist in the air and came down hard, his knuckles colliding with her cheek bone. He did the same thing once more before he got up. Mike walked towards the front door, an evil grin on his face as he did so. "If anybody asks, you tripped when you were walking down the stairs." He turned to her. "And if I hear that anybody found out different? If I come home to see that you aren't here?" He opened the door behind him, not taking his gaze off of her. "There will be hell to pay. I promise." He said with a wink as he opened the door and walked out.

Jude moved her hand to touch her cheek, just below her left eye. It was red, and she could tell that it was already beginning to swell. She couldn't believe what she'd gotten gerself into, and she was unsure of how exactly to go about getting out of the situation. Jude only knew that it wouldn't be an easy task.


	2. Chapter One  I'm The Only One

-"I'm The Only One"-

Jude threw her clothes into her suitcase, rushed and angry, so she could get out of that house as soon as she possibly could. She tore her things out of drawers and out of her closet, stuffing as much as she could into her bag. She didn't know where she was going to go, but as long as it was far away from here, Jude knew that she'd be fine.

Later, after having packed her bags, she trashed the house. She started in their bedroom. The first thing Jude took was a picture of him and the woman he was cheating on her with. Jude knew he'd been cheating on her with another woman. He'd probably been with more women than that _one_, even. She picked up the picture and stared at it. Then, she ripped it up into several pieces. Afterwards, she threw the ripped pieces onto the top of his dresser. She took all of the drawers out of the dresser, throwing of his clothes all over the room, then made her way to the closet, where she tore everything down, including the rail that had once held all of his clothes. She felt proud about this. Strong, even. Finally, she was able to show him what _she_ was capable of. It was her turn now.

Jude walked down the stairs, dragging her suitcase down behind her. She hadn't packed all of her belongings. She wouldn't be able to fit them all in her bag but to her, it didn't matter much. Her only concern was how to get out of this house right now. And without getting caught.

All of her senses, Jude noticed, suddenly became so alive and obvious. She noticed everything from the way the carpet on the stairs felt on her feet, even to the smell of the wooden railings that one of her hands were gliding over.

Time seemed to stand still suddenly, as she made her way down the stairs. It seemed to be an eternity before she actually reached the bottom. And after finally arriving at their back door, Jude felt as if she'd aged ten years. The stress striking through her body like lightning seemed to make everything worse. It made the butterflies in Jude's stomach go crazy, and made time go even slower now, than it had been only seconds before. To her, every second felt like a year, and minute by minute, she felt as if her life was growing shorter and shorter. What got to her, however, was the fact that, if he did come home to find her making her great escape, he'd literally go crazy, and Jude was afraid of what he might do. Not only to her, but himself as well.

She walked down the last step and loosened her grip on the bag so that it slid slowly down the step. She'd made it this far, and there was nothing stopping her other than the door that she now faced. It seemed so different now, and she felt so miniscule compared to everything else; as if she were only a speck in the world. Maybe that's the way it was, though. Maybe that's all she was to everybody else. Only a simple speck. Just somebody to get in the way of their so-called 'perfect' life. Was it possible that she didn't even have a place in the world? Although she was doubting herself _now_, deep down, Jude knew different. Her heart was on the stage, but she had no way to get there. Mike never believed in her, he simply beat her down, telling her she couldn't do it. But Jude knew better than that. She knew that she was put on this earth to sing. So that's exactly what she planned to do. Sing.

Jude turned the doorknob slowly. It was in intense few seconds, and part of her was beaming with happiness where another part of her knew that deep down she _did_ love Mike. But did he really love her back? And although he claimed that he did, why would he hurt her so badly and so deeply? It would take a long time for those scars to heal...

She was about to open the door when she looked down at her hand, only to find her engagement ring shining back at her. The glimmer that shined on her from the reflection of the light around her, seemed to stab her right in the heart. But this guy hurt her, so why should she even feel bad at all? He obviously didn't.

That was when she once again began to doubt herself. She was a twenty-one year old, unemployed woman with a fiance. Jude felt almost as if she needed him. She didn't have a job because he had always insisted on bringing home the 'dough'. It showed her now just how much control he wanted to have over her. He wouldn't even let her work, she realized, because he wanted to control the money so Jude could never say that it was her money too. He'd had it all figured out from the beginning and finally, Jude was starting to see right through him. It had taken her a long time to do so, but she felt suddenly thankful that she now understood.

With that, Jude gently slid the ring off of her finger in the silence of the empty house. She walked back upstairs quickly and sat it on their bed. He was sure to see it there. Jude then ran back down the stairs, grabbed her bag and opened the door, only to be shocked by what she would see on the other side of it.

Jude stood in a silent shock as Mike got out of his car and walked up the driveway towards her, throwing his keys in the air and catching them as he watched her with an evil and taunting grin on his face. "Looks like you're missing something..." He said, pointing to her finger as he neared. He looked around her and noticed the bag. "And you've replaced it with something else?" He said questioningly.

Jude swung her body around to the other side of the door and closed it, locked it, then leaned against it so that she was facing the staircase. She let her body slide down to a sitting position as she listened to Mike bang on the door.

Mike backed away from the door when he heard a sob, and laughed. "Well, just so you know, Jude..." He began. "This horror movie that you think you've gotton yourself into?" He stopped only to let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not too sure you know exactly what's going on..." He paused, hoping to hear a reply. But when he didn't he simply decided to go on. Maybe he would have to scare her a little bit in order to actually get a response. "Look around...They're everywhere. Should that be the twist to the story that you seemingly think you're in? Is that really what you want?"

Jude looked up in confusion, a few tears beginning to dry on her cheeks. What was that supposed to mean? She stood up slowly, unlocked the door and opened it. It was time to face him. "What are you talking about?" Jude asked as she shook her head.

"You have no clue, do you?" He asked her, a slight chuckle under his breath following the words that he'd just spoken.

Jude simply shook her head, daring him to go on.

"I see you all the time. I know every move you make. Every person you talk to. Every time you try to do something to escape." He said.

Jude watched as an evil grin spread over his face. She knew exactly what he meant by that comment, and she didn't like it. Cameras. "You didn't..." She began, only to let her words trail off, vanishing into thin air.

Mike nodded his head. "I did."

Jude shook her head and slapped him across the face. It was the first thing on the list of ways she wanted to hurt him back, but Mike caught her hand, squeezing her wrist tightly. "You wanna try that again?" He asked dangerously.

Jude once again, shook her head, this time totally breaking down and now, tears were streaming down her cheeks, forming little tiny rivers down her face. "Is this what you want?" She screamed at him between sobs. "Is this how you want to live?"

"No." He replied calmly. "And if you would just _listen_ to me," He began, squeezing her wrist even harder as he said the word 'listen'. "Then, neither of us would have to live like this."

Jude backed away, ripping her wrist from him. She looked at him in confusion and disgust. "I'm not a child." She said quietly.

"Then stop ACTING LIKE ONE!" He yelled back at her, his voice becoming increasingly loud when he said his last three words.

Jumping back slightly in hurt and fear, Jude tripped over the mat at their door. She looked up at him in pain.

Mike slammed the door, struck her face twice with his fist, looked at her for a moment, then turned, opened the door and walked out.

Jude laid back down farther on the floor, exhasted from trying to fight back against him. She sobbed for a few moments when she realized that she can't just expect him to stop. She has to actually _do _something to stop him.

She'd had so many mixed feelings in the last hour or so that her mind was now spinning out of control. As was her life. And now, Jude wasn't sure how to get it all back together.

A few hours later, Mike arrived home to find Jude dabbing ice on her now bruised eye. "Hey." He said. "Make sure you've got enough make-up tomorrow. We're going out for dinner. Cover it up so we can show people how in love we are." He said, his voice emotionless.

Jude laid in bed that night, unable to sleep, not only because off the throbbing of her right eye, but because she had a million and one things on her mind. To most, Jude and Mike looked like the perfect couple. Happy and in love. But she, and only she, knew much, _much_ better than that.


	3. Chapter Two Starts With Goodbye

-"Starts With Goodbye"-

After many tried and failed escape attempts, Jude was beginning to feel defeated. Maybe it was just a sign that she'd have to just stay with him and put up. Stay with him and learn about life the hard way. Or maybe this is what life was?

But that was a chance, Jude decided, that she was willing to take. It was time for her to leave. There was no way she could stay in that house with him any longer. And since he had cameras, she wouldn't exactly be able to take anything with her.

Jude walked into the kitchen, looked in the fridge and the cupboard, then took out a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down a grocery list of random grocery items. If he had cameras in the house, it had to be believable and grocery shopping seemed normal enough for Jude. She did it every few days, just to stay stocked up and to get out of the house for a little bit. Then, she shoved the list in her purse, trying not to make it too obvious that she was rushing it, grabbed a jacket, and went outside, locking the door behind her.

Once she was in the car, Jude looked at the large house. A tear began to burn in one of her eyes. This was her life, and now she was leaving it. However, she turned the key in her ignition. And when she drove off, realizing that she couldn't have these doubts anymore. It was the worse time for her to _ever_ be second-guessing herself, and it had to stop. It had to stop right now.

Jude drove around, up and down random streets. She wasn't sure where to go. It seemed that Mike had cast a spell on her or something. She had now become dependant on him, and now had no idea what to do. She was so lost without him. Why had Jude let herself come to this? She wondered.

"Jude." She said to herself out loud. "You _have_ to do this. It's been one of the most important decisions of your life and you've made the right one." She sighed as she continued to talk out loud to herself. "We can do this." She whispered.

Jude turned right and into the driveway of a conveniece store. She walked into the eerily lit store and over to a pay phone. She looked up at the man behind the counter. He looked to be about forty or so. He was a grubby-looking guy and his nametag read 'Mark'. She turned away and flipped through the phonebook until she came across the number to the airport nearby. Using her finger to read it off slowly to herself in her head, she dialed the number into the phone.

A woman answered politely, introducing herself, then asking if she could help her.

Jude took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'd like to buy a one-way ticket to Toronto, please." She paused. "And is there any way I could catch a flight _today_?"

"Yes, if I can get your name, I'll check it out for you."

"Jude. Jude Harrison." 

She could hear typing of the keys on a computer keyboard before the woman spoke. "You're in luck, Miss Harrison. We actually have a flight leaving in about an hour. Would you like a seat on that flight?"

A soft smile broke over Jude's face. "That would be perfect." She said, before hanging up. Jude ran over to a cooler, grabbed a bottle of water, then took a magazine off of a rack and slammed some money on the counter. "Keep the change!" She yelled as she ran out the door, the man behind the counter giving her a weird look.

She walked into the airport with about fifteen minutes to spare, and she could only hope that that would be enough. But soon, she was sitting on a plane, ready to take off. Ready to go somewhere new, and do something different. And it was about time.

Jude was quite happy to learn that she'd be sitting by herself, with nobody crowding the seat beside her. Or so she thought. Soon enough, somebody sat down beside her. She let out a small sigh of disappointment before looking up at the person.

She was pleasantly surprised, however, to see who was sitting beside her. He was a handsome man whom she'd guessed to be in his twenties. He had dark hair and a pretty face.

This man, she would soon find out, was none other than Tom Quincy.


	4. Chapter Three Just The Beginning

-"Just The Beginning"-

Tommy noticed the girl's look of disappointment. "Trust me." He said as he sat down, no longer looking at her. "I'd rather have a set of seats to myself too, but we don't all get what we want." He said with a light shrug.

Jude looked over at him. "No, I uh..." She stopped. "Sorry, I'm just having kind of a rough time right now." She looked out the window. "I'm making my 'great escape'." She said quietly as she turned to look at him once again

"We all need a fresh start every once in a while." He replied, looking at her, this time noticing her true beauty. A few strands of wavy blonde hair had come loose from her messy bun, framing her face perfectly. Tommy snapped out of it quickly. He had just dumped the woman who had fallen for him, and he didn't exactly want to get into a relationship right now. Of course, life didn't always go as planned, he realized silently.

"Yeah.." Jude replied quietly as she looked down at her black converses. "I guess." She looked back up at him. "So what's your story? Why are you heading to Toronto?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't find her too terribly forward.

"Well..." Tommy began with a heavy breath. "Just broke it off with the girlfriend...I live in Toronto, and she lives here in New Brunswick, and I didn't want to be a total jerk and do it over the phone, so I came down for a visit..." He paused and looked over at her, a small laugh forming under his breath. "Yeah, it didn't go over too well."

"Yeah, well..." Jude started with a shrug. "My boyfriend doesn't know that I'll ever be back so..." She looked over at him to find a confused look on his face, so she quickly changed the subject. "What's it like there?" She asked innocently. "In Toronto, I mean."

"It's great as long as you don't mind smog and traffic jams." He replied with a small laugh. "I don't believe we've had an actual introduction." Tommy began, holding his hand out for her to shake. "I'm Tom Quincy."

Jude took his hand and firmly shook it. "Jude Harrison. Nice to meet you." She said with a small smile. When she smiled, however, it caused her to jump as her cheek pained. She raised a hand to it, rubbing off some of the make-up that she'd worked so hard on to hide the bruise.

Tommy was about to try to comfort her, but held himself back. They'd just met, he thought, having to remind himself, once again, that he didn't want a relationship. "That why you're running away?" He asked curiously.

Jude shrugged. "How'd you guess?"

Tommy looked at her sadly and thought back to his past...

_"No!"_

_A five-year-old Tommy heard his mothers scream. He rushed towards the sound only to find his father hurting her, punching her in the face._

_However, when push turned to shove, in the end, Tommy's mother never made it. It also caused him to get hurt while in the act of trying to help her._

"I-" He began, wanting to badly to tell her the story of his past that he'd never told anyone else before. "Let's just say..." He began. "I've had experiences with people like that..." He said, hoping she would just drop it at that.

"Yeah." Jude agreed. "Too many have." She said sadly as she looked at him.

Tommy squirmed uncomfortably. "Anyways..." He began, changing the conversation topic completely. "What do you do?"

Jude blushed. "Right now? Nothing. You?" She asked. She'd wanted to tell him about her dream of being on stage, or in the recording studio, but to a lot of people, dreams like those were considered unrealistic.

"I'm a producer." Tommy replied happily. He showed off a sense of pride when he talked about his job. He had worked hard to get there, and now, he was living the life he'd only dreamed of when he was a kid. "At G-Major Records."

Jude's eyes lit up as she looked over at him. "Wow, really?!" She asked.

Tommy looked at her. To him, she looked like a little girl. Her eyes full of innocence. Her heart amazingly pure. "Really..." He said with a smirk.

Jude blushed slightly. "Sorry." She said, about getting so excited. "I've just-I'm a closet singer/songwriter and I think it's pretty awesome to actually meet somebody in the business." She said with a small shrug. "Don't mind me." She began with a small laugh. "I'm just a small town girl in desperate need to break away from the 'norm'." She said.

"No..." Tommy said, looking over at her. "I think it's great." He paused. "You really think I just walked into this whole producing thing? Just got up one day and asked for the job and they gave it to me?" Tommy laughed slightly. "Not quite, Harrison."

Jude giggled softly. "Harrison? I've got myself a nickname now?" She asked with on of her eyebrows raised, before she began laughing.

"Yeah..." Tommy said with a chuckle. "And you said you're a singer/songwriter...Why don't you show me what you got?" 

Jude looked back down at the magazine in her hand. "Because I've never sung in front of anybody before..." She said quietly.

"Never too late to start." Tommy replied with a shrug.

Jude looked up at him. "Yeah, but...Not here."

Tommy looked down at Jude. "Well, I'm a producer...You're in of one." He paused. "Put two and two together and you've got yourself a job. But you've gotta show me your stuff first." He looked at her in thought before saying. "But I'm not gonna pressure you into doing it." He stopped. "You got a phone number?"

"Well, that depends..." Jude said as she looked at him with a smirk. "Are you _actually_ gonna call me?"

Tommy smiled. "Not if I don't have a number..." He said, shrugging.

Jude laughed as she dug through her purse for a pan and a piece of paper. She wrote down the number of her cell on it, then passed it to him. "I don't know if guys have a rule about this or something, but...Call me before three days from now is up, okay?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm not like other guys." He replied with a smirk.

"I know." Jude said, her voice lowered to almost a whisper.

"Well," Tommy began as he stood up. "I should probably get back to my seat." He said, looking at her.

Jude simply shot him a look of confusion, but laughed softly when she saw him walk to another seat and sit down. He looked back at her and smiled, causing a huge smile to break over her face. She giggled and continued to look at her magazine.

Tommy let out a large breath as he turned around and looked at the number Jude had given him. He was thankful that he'd given her a chance. Because, truth be known, he wasn't going to sit down at first. But when he saw the look of disappointment on that girl's face when she thought he was about to sit down, he figured he'd tease her a little. There was something about that girl. He knew she'd handle it allright. There was something about her, that he found himself _extremely_ attracted to. This, he decided, wouldn't be the last time they met. He'd call her. And _before_ three days was up.


End file.
